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A Possible Technology to Abort Migraines

December 9, 2005 — kerriesmyres

Ohio State University researchers are investigating the use of a transcranial magnetic stimulator to abort migraines. Sufferers hold the device, which looks like a hair dryer, to their heads at the first warning of an impending migraine. It creates a magnetic field that will interrupt the electrical stimulation in the brain that occurs in the brain before a migraine and triggers aura. At least that’s what researchers hope will happen.

"…a new tool for the study of the human brain and for neurological therapeutics. A pulsed current in a coil produces a magnetic field that generates, in turn, an electric field that activates nearby excitable neural elements. When used over the motor cortex, TMS produces a motor-evoked potential in the muscles innervated by the corticospinal tract, allowing central motor conduction time to be measured. TMS can transiently excite or inhibit neural activity, and probe regional brain excitability and intracortical circuits. Repeated use of TMS with rapid trains of stimuli can produce long-lasting therapeutic effects in the treatment of depression, Parkinson’s disease, and pain states."

It appears the research is in the super-early stages, so that’s all I’ve learned so far. It sounds much more appealing than an implant.